Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2017
We're looking at bulk Milk (Land-O-Lakes, Dry Whole Milk, makes 47 gallons), and lots of Rice, in 4 varieties, all which we buy in BULK. Breaking these down to 3-4 serving sizes, add the oxygen absorber & desiccant packet, and they get stored in clear storage buckets in the basement. We've had this thing a number of years - it easily beats everything else in speed, making a good seal, this unit is FAST, like you'd expect from a production unit!
This unit is a time saver, a huge time saver, delivering a high quality evacuation & seal 99% of the time.
Pros: Speed of vacuum is outstanding. Nice WIDE seal you can visually inspect for quality, wider than the actual bags we use. The bags from Weston are first quality, with a checked patter on one side, the air gets sucked out of the bags *fast*. Easy to clean & robust! Not the flimsy kind of thing. The thick, clear, hinged cover - wonderful to finally SEE if you're messing things up. We have done HUNDREDS of bags in 4 sizes, with far fewer "failures" than our "seal-a-meal" units... This is a high quality unit, we haven't had to replace a single part (we do clean it well, before & after use), I suspect, given the quality of Weston - this is the last vacuum sealer unit we'll ever buy.
Lastly, it is QUIET compared to the seal-a-meal units. It is worth the higher price, with food prices soaring, we look for deals, and repackage in 3-4 serving sizes.
After 3 years of sitting in the freezer - meats have ZERO evidence of Freezer burn - still tastes as good as the day we vacuum packed it... something I cannot say for the cheaper units. The cover, IMO, makes the difference in sealing, stiff & heavy duty, gives you a solid, even seal.
Cons: Yeah, it's big & bulky, heavy - not the kind of unit you'll keep on your counter. I wish we could use it more often, but pulling it out of the box, setting it up (clearing counter space... plugging it in... OK, we're getting OLD and a bit lazy, not as strong). One thing about the weight ... where you put it on the counter or table, it's not gonna STAY, which is actually a PLUS, it's not gonna need suction cups to stay put, so the rubber feet & weight keep it from sliding around as you open and close and seal. I wish it had a little "ramp" for the front, sloping or level would work, because we like to get the seal as close to the food as possible, and cut off the excess bag, a sloping ramp would be ideal.
Tips: USE A LITTLE PRESSURE - rest your hand on the handle!!! We vacuum pack "meals" which saves us LOTS of time cooking - "heat and serve" works for us! We use Weston 1qt. 1/2gal & 1gal., size bags. The 1/2 gallon size get the most use for SOUPS ... yes, like Chili, Baked Potato Soup, Broccoli & Cheese, lots of liquid type soups. The secret is a little downward pressure, with your left hand on the black handle, WATCH the bag evacuate, hit the seal button with your right hand, as soon as you see the liquid coming towards the edge of the unit (all the air looks like it's gone). It's gonna happen FAST, so be ready.
What works GREAT for soups, is to create a 3/4-1" thick bag of soup, which thaws quickly when run under hot water, and maximizes storage in your freezer (freeze the bags FLAT). For the best packaging, to get it nice and FLAT, we put a couple of books under the front of the unit, so the bag is Level to the cover, then we just slide a hand over the bag to "pre-squeeze" some of the air out. The bag lies flat, and we hit the switch. First time trying to do a bag of soup - I hit the seal button, when I saw it sucking Chili into the unit (Aieeeee! It's making a mess!), and much to our surprise, it still worked perfectly! The cleanup was quick (damp rag), and back in business.
We routinely buy in BULK, even with most of the 8 kids moved out, we continue to look for bulk deals, and repackage for 3-4 serving use (3 of us, occasionally a guest). We have used this for Powders, Solids & Liquids successfully. Occasionally, we get a bag that leaks. For things that do not need refrigeration, Rice, Noodles, we 'give it a day' to see if they leaked (sharp, pointed foods puncture bags).
Buy Bags, you're not saving anything buying rolls. We wound up with at least half a dozen rolls... you know the routine, cut the size you want, seal one end, to make it a 'bag', and feel good about yourself, because you think you saved $.02 making your own custom size bags - too much work! Wife & I like to "get the job done" and get back to the farm work.
On our farm, we've been putting food by, over 18 years, both wifey and I grew up with parents who canned - that is *work* and *dedication* to spend a whole weekend in front of 2 big canners, steaming away. We also dry foods, with 2 dehydrators - and then vacuum pack. The amount of TIME we've saved with this Weston Pro-2300 probably amounts of WEEKS of canning, by comparison.
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(original review)
We've been vacuum sealing meats and vegetables for decades with a Seal-o-meal unit. It was OK, other than we'd have to seal at least 2x to get a leak proof seal, sometimes we didn't realize the seal was no good until it had been in the freezer awhile. Pretty much hit and miss.
Recently we bought a Weston meat grinder, with an awesome sausage stuffing spiral - makes GREAT hot dogs, sausages, everything!
Decided to replace the old Seal-oops-meal with this Weston Pro-2300. I got what we wanted, it's currently being used for packaging pulled and chopped pork, here's what the kids say.
a. It is FAST. 10-15 seconds from hitting the start button, it's completely DONE.
b. The WIDE seal has been flawless. One time sealing, and it's DONE. The sealing strip on the bag is almost 1/4" wide.... that ain't gonna leak!
c. Stainless Steel looks good, like a professional appliance, it's easy to keep clean.
d. Quiet, yes, it doesn't sound like it's struggling to pull a vacuum, we're talking a fast, quiet vacuum pump - it took a little practice, after squeezing and massaging bags to get as much air out as possible (seal-o-meal), this thing quickly and quietly pulls it out, sometimes in less than 5 seconds.
e. The clear TOP to the vacuum chamber is a really nice PLUS. It's very thick, and being clear you can see if liquids are being sucked into this overflow tray. It's also nice to see "how much bag" is actually inserted into the unit.
f. Heavy duty and rubber feet that stays PUT as you fumble around with bags. The seal-o-meal would slip and slide all over the place, while we were trying to get the darn edge of the bag inserted and the cover down.
g. here's a Pro and Con... It'll do a big, wide bag like nothing else. It'll take up counter space - yep, we're using it 2x a week for the pork processing, veggies... we still can't find a good place to store it, it's both good & bad, heavy duty, commercial unit, and big.
If you're considering this unit, or another brand - consider that clear top, fast vacuum pump & wide seal on the bags. This isn't a kitchen appliance "toy". Would I buy it again? Well... my daughter is getting married (finally), gonna buy a house and put in a garden. We struggled with the seal-o-meal for 3 decades, and it was over $285, probably 10x that in rolls of bags. What a waste. One of these, with the smallest and medium size bags will be less expensive. Oh, get the pre-made bags, in bulk, you won't regret it - it'll do the roll bags too, just more work and costs more.
